Broken Porcelain
by ShotsuMei
Summary: AU Shuichi, a small child of eight has had to face more in his young age than we probably have faced in ten years of ours. His childhood seems to be riddled with death, hatred, and lies built upon deceit. Misunderstandings in the past make for certain eve
1. The beginning

This story was previously deleted do to some mix up in communication with a friend of mine and I took it as an opportunity to revise and re-edit this story. I'm sorry for any problems and such it may have caused. If you have any questions or comments please contact me at yarou. Alright, here it is. Again.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gravitation or any of it's charcter's. (**This will be my one and only disclaimer**)

Description: AU Shuichi, a small child of eight has had to face more in his young age than we probably have faced in ten years of ours. His childhood seems to be riddled with death, hatred, and lies built upon deceit. Misunderstandings in the past make for certain events in the future and later on in Shuichi's adolescence he's sent off to boarding school. In this place his whole world is flipped upside down and with it, his whole life is changed.

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**Broken Porcelain**

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In a room only lit by the soft shine of the moon that poured in from the open windows, there laid a child on the ground, seemingly broken. A doll lay sprawled next to the pale boy; its face cracked, eyes wide and unblinking as it stared lifelessly up at the ceiling; its ruffled blue dress and long blond hair fluttering slightly in the cold breeze.

Screams and yells echoed through the door, only to wrap the child's body in a tight envelope, encasing him in a world where there was only a black abyss and screamed cries. It seemed that he has to be kept here, the yells left to devour his every thought until he had nothing left but those haunting voices to keep him company.

His parents fought downstairs; about what, he didn't know, and all of it made him feel small and useless. He felt so weak. He could do nothing but stare at the wall of his room in some hopes of drowning that sound out, all of the screaming, all of the crying.

His ghostly violet eyes looked over at the broken doll to the right of him and then over at the door to his left; with great difficulty he lifted himself up and looked down at the porcelain doll that lay unmoving at his feet and after a moment he scooped it up; his dark burgendy hair falling into his face; and with a small hand he brushed the stray hair back, no aggravation in the gesture.

Once he had the lifeless toy secured within his arms he walked to the door, and just before his hand touched the doorknob he stopped; his fingers hovering just above it. Words beat through the door and reached his ears; his eyes wide as his grip loosened on the doll.

"That is not my child! That thing is the spawn of the devil!" He heard his mother rasp out and sobbed slightly as he heard her move around in the other room.

"I don't care!" his father yelled, "I don't even know if he's mine because you're such a slut! So you'll have to take him; custody's yours! I don't want it!" He heard something smash, and his mother cried louder before she started to shout things to his father.

"I don't want it; that is **not** my child... it isn't, it can't be!" his mother wailed as she threw things against the wall and shattered them into a thousand tiny pieces.

His whole body shook as tears threatened to fall from his eyes.

_He was the devil? How? What did he do wrong? Why didn't his parents want him...? He thought that they loved him and now... and now they fought over who would have to take him; neither wanted him; they didn't want anything to do with him._

As his body shook with harder sobs the doll fell from his grip, half of its face breaking; the pieces sounded like glass as they hit the bare marble floors. The sound seemed deafening as he watched parts of its face scatter across the floor. Instantly he stopped breathing; his only thoughts leading to the conclusion that they had heard, but they carried on as though they had perceived nothing.

"You take him! I don't want that thing ever living alone with me! Who knows if he'll do it again! And a shame is all that he is, and a disgrace is what you are, so you take him! And by the gods I swear if you don't I'll leave him on the side of the road so he can fend for himself. There is no way in **Hell** that I'll take that!" his mother screamed, heaving slightly as she finished her rant.

"Oh really, you would do that to something that came out of you. Who's the devil now, _sweetheart_? You or **your** child?" his father hissed. The mother screamed in outrage, and instantly after that he heard a loud smack soon followed by a muffled thump that resounded throughout the house.

"Don't you ever lay your hand on **me**. " his father hissed before another loud thump came and a slight, muffled gurgle followed.

Finding some courage he peaked through the open door and looked out only to freeze at the sight that met him.

His mother laid sprawled out on the ground, clutching her stomach; blood starting to drip from her mouth. His father stood above her, hands clenched and jaw set.

"Y-you monster." she weakly rasped as she coughed up some more blood and groaned.

"I am no more a monster than that thing you gave birth to in the next room you whore." The little boy flinched at his words, hurt more by them than any physical wound ever could.

He bent down and picked back up his broken doll; the pieces of the face missing in several places, but one eye and part of her lips and nose remained.

He gently touched the face and hugged it to his chest as if he believed he held the most precious thing in the world before he stepped out of his room and made his way cautiously to the study his parents could be heard at as they continued to argue.

His father heard something and as he looked over he saw the small boy meekly walking towards them. His eyes narrowed to thin snake-like slits and he clenched his hands into tighter fists. His mother looked up and quickly tried to stand but only fell back down again and clutched onto herself in pain.

"What..." his father started, "are you doing out here?" The little boy remained silent, never stopping as he walked farther into the room. "I asked you a question, boy; I expect an answer." Still no reply came from the quivering child as he gazed at his momothers ragged form.

The tears had long since stopped falling, but the sight before him sent new ones stinging at his eyes. "M-Mother?" he stuttered out. He started to walk closer, but her hoarse voice stopped him.

"D-don't come nea-near me..." His footsteps ceased, but his gaze stayed fixated on her; his eyes wide and tear filled. His father didn't like being ignored, and within a few steps he stood in front of the small boy, and he grabbed him roughly by the shoulders, nails digging painfully into his shoulders.

"Look at me..." he gripped him tightly. "Look at me!" he shouted and shook the boy harder causing him to drop the broken doll in his hands. It fell to the ground, its face cracking but no pieces fell from it.

His father watched, his eyes glowing like the fires of hell as he growled, "Only queers play with dolls. Are you a queer?" The cruelty dripped from his voice like venom and stung the small boys ears until he thought that they would bleed.

"Answer me when I speak to you!" he bellowed and back handed him across the face, the sheer force of the blow enough to leave a bright red mark on the child's face; which was already starting to bruise.

The impact of the hit would have knocked the small boy off his feet if not for his father's grip on his arm that kept him rooted to his place.

The boy shook slightly and tried to turn away from his father, tried to escape, but he knew that his father had him trapped.

His mother groaned slightly and said something, but he couldn't hear; his ears rang painfully, and his vision ebbed away to black; the hit having set all his nerves on fire and his head tingled with pain.

Though the soft murmuring of his mother sounded as though she whispered for his father to stop she made no move to get up and help him. His father let go suddenly and he fell to the ground; his hand immediately going up to clutch his hurt cheek.

"Go back to your room." His father spoke tiredly, as if he just had a long day at work. When the boy made no move to leave his father growled and walked to where he lay, roughly grabbed his arm and dragging him to his room.

Once his father had thrown him onto the cold ground of his room he proceeded to slam and lock the door, ensuring he wouldn't be able to come back out again. He lay shivering on the floor, his arms wrapped around him as his only comfort. Soon the clouds that filled the lightless skies blocked the glow of comfort from the moon, only to be replaced with an empty darkness as the silence thickened and grew in the cold, bleak night. Soft violet eyes glowed in the dark and glistened with new tears before they closed, only to open when the light from a new moon rose and shined on his tear stained face.

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**Broken Porcelain**

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So that's the end of the first chapter. Reviews and/or flames (but I prefer critisizm) are welcome. Thank you for reading.


	2. Otedama

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**Broken Porcelain**

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The days came and went as though they were just seconds in time and the maids often saw the boy sitting in the middle of the room with a doll held closely to his chest. Having always known the child as reserved and quiet they didn't bother to speak or interact with him; only to come and leave a tray of food and to once again come back to pick it up. During this time his parents never once came to see him.

Like flashes in his mind the days quickly changed to weeks and with it, he began to feel more and more alone; and the sadness of his solitary confinement ate at him, slowly consumed his thoughts with each passing day.

He knew without the dolls that he kept littered throughout the room, he would certainly go insane. They stared lifelessly at him from all corners of the bare maple floors, their gazes glazed over and frozen. But when he imagined and pretended hard enough they would come to life and be his friends; they talked and played with him like no one else ever had.

He lifted a porcelain doll high up into the air, her glass eyes shining in the dim light of the room as he swung her around and around; no sound came from either of them except for the small thumps of his feet as he glided across his bedroom. The ethereal dolls' black hair flew everywhere as the wind played and tangled into it, its cold lips seemingly to kiss each and every silky strand. Finally the child stopped, still holding the doll high into the air and stared at it with an unblinking gaze.

"Maria?" he questioned, "You'll never leave, will you?" He looked innocently at her, and waited for the stoic doll to reply but got no answer. Getting no response he considered that his question was too vague and so he reworded it.

"Will you leave me like mother and father had… like Mia-... No, like e-everyone had?" Still no sound was uttered from Maria's glassy lips. He sighed before he sat on the floor and placed the toy gently in his lap.

"It's okay," he said after awhile, "I can wait."

Another day had passed and to his disappointment no one came; no one except for the maid who was always there to drop off his food and the one who came to pick up the empty tray but she never spoke to him.

He looked to his favorite doll, Alexandria, and for once he smiled. Running his hands through her fiery red hair, he gazed into her glassy green eyes he meekly uttered a small question, "Um, will you play with me today, Dria?" He closed his eyes and imagined she said yes and when he opened them back up he gave a sad sort of lop sided smile and nodded, knowing deep down that this fantasy he had created is not, and never could be, real.

"What would you like to play today?" He pretended to think for a moment, already knowing what game he had decided on but he wanted to prolong the end as much as he could. "How about; Otedama?" **1**

This was his favorite game. He grabbed three bean bags and sat crossed legged on the floor, putting the two smaller bags down. He threw the kini (_larger bean bag_) high up into the air and quickly reached down, grabbing a smaller bean bag, before catching the kini on in the same hand he threw it in. Then he threw the kini up into the air again, dropping the first bean bag and grabbing the second, catching the kini once more. Then he threw the kini back up and dropped the other bean bag and caught the kini once more.

Looking over at Dria he imagined her clapping and giving him praise for a job well done. Smiling he stood up and took a bow before sitting down, this time with his legs tucked under him and looked down to where the other two bags lay and frowned slightly. They had landed farther away from him than he had expected but he knew he could win the next round none the less. Throwing the kini up into the air he leaned over quickly and picked both of them up before catching the kini once again. Smiling in victory he threw the kini up and dropped both bean bags to the ground and caught the larger bag once more.

He licked his lips in concentration and extended his left hand out in front of him the palm facing to the side. Throwing the kini up into the air he reached down and grabbed the first bag and tapped it to his palm before letting it drop and caught the small bag. Grinning happily he repeated this process except this time with the other bag. Feeling particularly triumphant he jumped up and clapped his hands together but stopped suddenly as the door sung open to reveal one of the maids.

He looked up at her with slight curiosity and she looked at him as though he was someone who's father didn't sign her paychecks and faked a smile as she kneeled down beside him.

"Your parents have sent me to tell you to get ready. They'll be having a party tonight and you have to attend. I'll put some clothes out on the bed for you, OK? So you go take a bath.

But don't take too long." Her voice sounded strained, and high pitched, as though she had been talking like this all day. Or perhaps it pained her to talk to him but either way he mind, he just liked having someone talk to him.

As she left he got up from the floor and went to one of the many doors in his room; this one being the bathroom. He started the shower instead of the bath that the maid had oh so kindly suggested. He then stripped from his clothes and stepped into the warm heat. Soon after he washed up before he hurriedly got out, not wanting to be late and have his parents get mad at him.

When he walked out he saw that his bed had a set of clothes on it, left by the maid. He dried himself off and pulled the clothes on before he sighed, looking at himself in the mirror. The bruise that his father had given him still lingered on his skin. It had faded by now but if you looked hard enough you could see it was still there.

He touched it lightly, flinching as he did. Though it was almost gone it was still slightly tender and it hurt. After a few more moments of staring at the almost non-existent mark he looked down at his clothes and frowned.

He was dressed in a black tuxedo and a vanilla white undershirt with black shiny shoes. He shifted in the pants, and thought them uncomfortable since he usually wore shorts. But nevertheless this is what had been picked and not being one to upset anyone, this is what he would wear.

Moments after he looked in the mirror and deemed himself presentable a maid walked in, and with a shrill voice, something he thought all those maids possessed, told him to follow. He did as she said and walked closely behind her, head down and hands at his sides. As they walked closer to their desired destination sounds and voices filled his ears, but they weren't yells or screams but strangely that of laughter and music.

He couldn't help the smile that grew on his face; he knew full well what this meant. He was going to be able to interact with other people, though they were most likely older than him by a great number of years though at this moment he could care less.Walking into the room his face immediately fell, and with his faded smile, his hopes disappeared too.

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**Broken Porcelain**

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**1** http/ en . wikipedia . org /wiki/ Otedama (_Minus the spaces_) If you want to know more about it and how it's actually played. It does get quick hard as the game progresses. I tried it and it was difficult after the fourth round. Maybe I'm just uncoordinated.

I hope you all enjoyed the second chapter. Sorry for it short length but I thought, just as I had before, that this would be a wonderful place to end it. Thank you for reading.


	3. Mrs Abigail

I had run into a few snags with this story and with those snags came a lack of time to fix them. I'm sorry I got this out so late but I did my best and I hope that you enjoy this chapter. Also, I do need a beta, as some of you can tell so if anyone would be kind enough to lend me a helping hand, even on one chapter, it would help me greatly.

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**Broken Porcelain**

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His eyes quickly scanned the entire room and all through out it he saw Americans. Each and every one, with the exception of his mother and father, were English; meaning that they only spoke English. This had happened before and he should have seen it coming. He mentally scolded himself for getting his hopes up.

Sighing he scanned the room and saw some of his fathers Japanese associates speaking English with the Americans and frowned. He really had been looking fore ward to the small talk that was required upon his introduction but now all he could do was smile and nod to whatever they were saying.

He felt the more than gentle push from the maid behind him and started fore ward, lead to where his parents were. His heart started to race and his palms got sweaty as he neared them; this would be the first time in nearly three weeks since he had last seen them and he couldn't help but feel excitement. He knew full well that he shouldn't get like this just by just merely seeing them, especially after what had happened last time; but the ultimate truth was that they were his parents and because they were, he loved them.

When he was placed in front of his Mother and Father he bowed and smiled like he was the best child in the world as his parents introduced him. Though he couldn't understand what they had all said he knew he had done well since one of the Americans smiled and patted him on the head while she talked to his parents.

"**What a cute boy you have. He has such unique hair and eyes!**"a blonde woman with dark blue eyes exclaimed as she smiled down at him. She placed her hands on her knees and bent down slightly to smile warmly at him, her long black dress swaying slightly as she moved.

His mother nodded, "**Yes, I was... ill when pregnant with him, so he turned out like this...**" She spoke the last word like it tasted badly and the women tilted her head and nodded, giving his mother a quizzical look. She bent down a little more and placed her hand on his arm and came face to face with him.

"Well aren't you... **What's the word for cute in Japanese? I'm afraid I'm not so amazing when it comes to the language.**" She said with a slight look of embarrassment towards one of the men.

"**I'm not really...**" One of the men started but the boys father cut him off.

"**Kawaii.**"

Smiling her thanks she turned back to him, "Cute, you look cute."

The small child just grinned happily up at her, as he was supposed to, but perhaps he enjoyed her appraisal a little too much because his parents shot twin glares at him. He took his smile down a notch and bowed slightly, excusing himself knowing he had overstayed his welcome.

"You have to go already?" The blonde woman asked, disappointed.

He nodded and murmured a small, "Sorry." She just nodded and gave him a nice pat on the head.

"Well, let me at least tell you my name. It's Abigail Simmons." She smiled happily as did the small boy and she looked towards his parents. "**What's his name again?**"

His mother forced a smile on her face and said, "**His name's Shuichi**."

"Shuichi." The women said, as if tasting the name before she smiled.

"I like that." Giving him a grin and a small pat on the head she stood up and watched as he smiled back at her and bowed before quickly walking off. With one last look she turned back and joined in on the conversation full of politics and business.

He knew that his parents weren't pleased that one of their clients or friends, or whatever she happened to be, took interest in him. He had to think of a way to correct this but left that for later as he stood in the corner of the room and began to survey the crowd of people.

For the most part he was left alone with the exception of the very few times when someone would come up to him and ask a question or something but all he could do was smile and shrug since he had no idea what they had said.

They party started to get a little heated as more and more of the alcohol was dispersed. He laughed when he saw some people, who had looked composed only an hour before, laugh their heads off when someone said a word they found particularly funny.

Soon he saw a fimiliar face walk towards him and once he clearly saw who it was he smiled happily. It was Abigail. But as upon further inspection Shuichi notice that Mrs. Simmons wasn't walking very straight and the drink she had in her hands would spill over everytime she stumbled. He found this very funny but kept his laughter to himself, not wanting to be rude.

"Shu-hic-ichi!" She shouted happily, in a slurred voice, "Where have... **Damn... I fergot how ta say thae resst... Well, come'er, I haiv somone's I want yoo ta meet**." He cringed slightly as the strong smell of alcohol wafted over his senses but none the less smiled at her. She kept on talking even though he could only understand a total of of two words hardly understand her, but he was pretty sure he knew what she was talking about.

"**Come onn...**"She drawled, her hand latching onto his, "**I'm gonna take yous to my...**" She paused as if she was thinking about what to say before shouting out, "him!" Shuichi looked around trying to figure out who 'him' was but it proved to be unsuccessful as she pulled him over towards a set of tables.

"Roger! Roger!" She wailed, waving her glass high in the air, spilling whatever liquid was left in it. The man Shuichi guessed to be Roger looked mortified and covered his face, looking as if he was going to die.

"**Come 'ere hunny, I have sumhun fe you to meet**." if her words hadn't been slurred, they were now. She leaned over and gave her husband a sloppy kiss and laughed, he just looked bewildered and ready to crawl into a coffin for his early funeral.

"**Rog, this was the booy I was talkin 'bout.**" She let go of Shuichi and latched onto her husband arm, laughing hysterically for, what appeared to be, no reason. He shook his head and looked sympathetically at Shuichi and sighed.

"It's nice to meet you. She has told me a lot about you, too bad she's drunk right now... She usually isn't..." He trailed off, not sure what to say. To Shuichi it seemed he hadn't been around children much, and as he took the couple in front of him in, he couldn't help but smile. He bowed and gave them a small goodbye. He thought it best to seperate himself from the drunken Abigail and the nervous Roger for now, nothing good came out of out of control adults.

Shuichi wandered back into his original corner and watched the events of the part; happily observing the people throughout the room. Sometimes not being able to speak someone's language wasn't such a bad thing.

The party ended and he was sent back up to his room, given strict orders to go there and not to wander since all of the maids were to busy to escort him because they all had to clean up and make the house look presentable again; his parents were all about appearances.

He opened his door and slowly walked in; his eyes scanned the room quickly before they fell on what he had been searching for. He rushed into the room not bothering to close the doors as he picked up Alexandria and spun her around a few times. He settled down after a moment and sighed happily.

"Dria, the most wonderful thing happened today..." He trailed off, not sure how to explain but after a moment he continued, "Someone noticed me and said I was cute. Her names Abigail and she's really pretty; she has hair just like Emily..."

He stopped as he said the name of one of his other dolls, his eyes going wide for a second before he wiped around. He looked frantically throughout his room to see if he could spot any sign of blonde hair and when he found none he dropped Alexandria onto the floor and ran out of the room. He sped down the stairs and into the study in which he had dropped his doll in. He frantically flipped over cushions and looked under chairs. Feeling tears sting at his eyes he started to breathe harder and harder as he spun around in circles.

"Emily!" He called out, "Where are you?" He called her name again and again, expecting an answer and when he got no response as the minutes ticked by he became hysterical and started to whimper and cry louder, soon falling to his knees and clutching tightly onto himself. Tears trailed down his cheeks and dripped to the floor as he rocked back and forth, staring at the wall; this feeling of dread and fear all too familiar to him.

Flashback

"Ciò è irragionevole! Non tollererò questo!" **1 **His father yelled from downstairs. He had just been called by an Italian associate of his and it seemed their conversation was going rather badly. He knew he shouldn't have gone down and peaked, he knew that his father had been stressed out, but he wanted to make his Father happy; because when he was happy he would play with him and everything would be okay again.

He tilted his head slightly so he could see the shadow of his father as he paced throughout the room. He was spoke Italian to the man on the phone and from what words his father had told him of the language; he could only understand a few.

"Siete…" **2 **the rest was cut short as his mother walked in from the other door and whispered softly to his father.

"Shuichi's not in his room, have you seen him?" when he heard his father mutter an annoyed no, he whipped around and raced back towards the stairs, knowing he was in trouble if his mother was the one looking for him and not the maids.

He ran as fast as his five year old legs would take him up the stairs and rushed towards his door. He already heard his mothers footsteps from down the hallway and as fear raced through him he ripped open his bedroom door and dived in, slamming it shut with his foot before clambering over the toys that littered the floor and proceeded to hide under the covers but was stopped as a strong hand grabbed him by his collar.

He looked behind him and gave his mother a guilty smile and laughed sheepishly. Her stern look melted away to a smile and she released him with a sigh.

"What do you think you were doing downstairs, little one?" she said affectionately, patting him on the head. He started to stutter out an excuse but she raised her finger and shushed him.

"Think before you speak Shuichi. We've taught you better than that." Her voice was stern as she spoke but the smile she had on her face made the whole affect of her words useless and he couldn't help but give her a toothy grin before he blurted out his answer to her previous question.

"I wanted to make father happy!" she looked surprised for a moment before she laughed and ruffled his hair and picked him up.

"Is that so? Then I suppose I can't punish you for that, now can I?" her voice was soothing as it echoed throughout the near silent room, and he snuggled his head into her shoulder as she sat down in the rocking chair; gently pushing them back and forth. She than proceeded to sing a song that he himself had memorized after all the times she had told him it, and as her voice wrapped around him like a melancholy blanket of musical notes, he closed his eyes.

"Remember all the times we used to play, you were lost and I would save you. I don't think these feelings will ever fade; you were born apart of me. Won't you cure my tragedy, won't you cure my tragedy…"

She stopped and looked down at him before she smiled softly. He was snoring quietly in her arms, thumb in his mouth and hand gripping her kimono. She carefully stood up and walked to his bed and laid him down softly. She looked down at him and brushed some hair out of his eyes, and stood there for only a moment more before turning away and walking towards the door. With one final look back she sighed and stepped out, closing the door gently behind her.

As the door shut she leaned against it and sighed heavily. She loved her son; she really did, but sometimes… She shook her head, not wanting to think about it. She looked towards the stairs and heard her husbands voice as it yelled vehemenantly at the phone ad sighed. It was best she go and calm him now before he did something he would regret later.

Shuichi sat up groggily and looked around the room, expecting to see his mother but was only met with the soft glow of the dimmed lamplight in the corner of the room. He got up and rubbed his eyes and looked down at his bed. Next to him his sisters doll laid, its liquid black hair pooled around her perfectly sculpted face and her dark brown eyes stared up at him. He breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that his mother hadn't seen it. He had taken it from his sisters room earlier and if his mother had seen it... He shivered, not really wanting to think of the consequences.

He sighed, knowing that he should bring the doll back before she got mad and blamed him for stealing it like the little theif he was. He picked it up and held its hand in one of his own before he slowly walked towards the door. Once he was in the hallway he looked around and saw a light from his sister Maiko's room and headed towards it.

He reached up and knocked lightly on the door. He wondered if his sister had already gone to sleep and as he reached for the doorknob to check he stopped, wondering if that was even a good idea. Last time he came in without her permission she was in a foul mood and he couldn't hear for about an hour after the encounter. He had asked his mother why Maiko had been so grumpy and her only reply was to mumble somthing that sounded like 'teenagers' before walking away.

After some more thought he shrugged, what's the worst that could happen? He peaked in slightly to see if Maiko was even in there and froze instantly at the sight that met him.

There was a trail of blood that led from the bed to the bathroom and as he stumbled into the room he heard strange noises coming from his right. As he walked closer towards the door the sounds grew softer but more muffled until they almost became completely silent. As he opened the door he felt his heart stop.

His sister lay propped up against the wall and a knife was imbedded deep in her stomach. She seemed to be fighting for breath and as her eyes locked with his she groaned and shifted slightly.

"Shu-Shucihi…" She choked out as she looked at him with pained eyes. "H-help me take it o-out, please."

He shook his head and stayed rooted to his place as he watched the blood slowly pour from her. He didn't know what to do. His sister was telling him to help her but he was so afraid of what was going on; he didn't even know what was going on. When she asked him again he felt his body move on its own accord and his hand reached out in front of him and he dropped the blonde doll in the pool of blood at his feet, hardly hearing its face shatter, before he gripped onto the knife. He felt her tense before he pulled it out and as a scream tore from her throat he froze on the spot, his breath caught in his chest.

He didn't know how much time had passed; whether they were minutes, or seconds, but in whatever time it was his parents had ran up the stairs and were headed straight for her room. He heard it slam open and jumped, turning around quickly and faced his parents and saw horror etched into their eyes.

He never knew something so simple, like doing what another asks of you, could change everything.

End Flashback

He sat on the ground chanting Emily's name over and over again the pictures of what happened four years ago flashed through his mind. He had lost his sister back then and now he was going to lose Emily too? He grit his teeth and squeezed his eyes tightly closed as painful memories of the aftermath flashed behind his eyelids and he screamed, thinking it all too real and all too much.

As a maid came up to see what all the noise was they found him on the floor like that, as if he was in another world completely. She immediately became worried and went to go get Shuichi's parents, telling them what she saw.

His parents were up stairs in a few minutes and when they saw him on the floor, chanting and rocking back in forth they thought him possessed. With angry, if not scared, looks, they gave the maids strict orders to put him in his room and keep him in there.

He cried out loudly when one of the maids tried to move him and it took three more to successfully get him into his room and locked up. He lay on the floor, crying as sobs harshl racked his body as he tried to calm. Emily was gone, they had thrown her away, he knew that they had. And Maiko was gone too. He couldn't stand the thought of either thing and he shook as his body convulsed and bile rose up in his throat. He swallowed it back down and crawled over to where Alexandria lay and hugged her tightly to him, shaking horribly as he cried himself to sleep; nightmares sure to consume him.

Well, I hope that cleared up a few things though I know it probably brought on more than a few questions. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you all for reading!

**1** This is unreasonable! I will not tolerate this! - Italian

**2** You are... - Italian


	4. Introductions

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**Broken Porcelain**

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_Six Years later_

Shuichi took in the site of the tall gates that rose in front of the limo and shuddered slightly. Those anormous metal structures were the only things that seperated him and the boarding school that lay on the other side. He failty heard the driver talking into the speaker before the metal doors creaked open. The car lurched foreward and he unconcioulsy gripped onto the leather seats as his eyes flickered over the scenery that flashed past him.

Neatly cut grass and perfectly sculpted bushes came and left his vision, only to be replaced with replicas exactly like them a few moments later. This whole place, to him, seemed... surreal. Everything so far had looked as though it was kept in a distinct order and he bet that whoever ran this place would freak if they saw even a blade of grass out of place.

He giggled slightly at the thought.

He turned and looked at the dark glass window that seperated him and the driver and then down at the seats bellow it. He closed his eyes and sighed, remembering the conversation that he had with his father only a few hours before.

_The stared at each other for a few moments, before the elder spoke. "You'll be going to a school that will refine you. They'll rid you of those nasty habits you picked up from that **woman**." He sneered in disgust before he continued, "If you're in my custody I won't allow you to remain an embarressment to me. That woman... She really has no sense when it comes to raising a child."_

He remembered that the conversation had gone from bad to worse after that. He had said something, which he really couldn't remember what it had been, that upset his father and the man proceeded to yell and berate him with insults and curses. All he could do was duck his head down and take it. After all, his father had gained full custody of him after he found out that hs mother had been using his child support for drugs and male prostitutes.

He looked out the window once more when the car started to slow down and praticially plastered his face to the glass to get a better view of the building and he couldn't help but feel overwhelmed as he took in the site that met him.

It was huge! It was about four stories high with an angled roof that had two towers that stood proudly at the top on opposite ends and it had too many windows to possibly count. His eyes drifted to the door, and there stood two people, hands behind their backs and hair immaculately done up; one in a bun, and the other combed back.

The driver walked around to Shuichi's side and opened the door, letting him step out. With a deep breath took his first step onot the asphalt. Out of habit he nervously fidgeted with the sleeves of his shirt.

When the driver motioned for him to walk over towards the building, he nodded and started to move his body to where the two other people stood.

"Don't trip, don't trip, don't trip..." He repeated over and over again in his head, like a mantra. He didn't want to make a fool of himself after all. He remembered that Mother had once said that the first impression is everything, so you have to make it count. He faltered in his steps as he thought of her, but he shook his head and made his smile a little bigger as he hurried towards the strangers.

As he got closer, he noticed that the expressions on their faces never changed as their gazes stayed fixated on him. This gave him the creeps if anything else.

He let out a small sigh of relief as he reached them and bowed deeply, murmuring a small, but polite, greeting.

"Mr. Shindou, welcome to Takatou's school of Etiquette and Refinement. I am Mrs. Shigure, and this is Mr. Okumiya." Her words came smoothly from her mouth and Shuichi couldn't help but wonder if she had been practicing the precise way to say that in front of a mirror for hours as he had done with his greeting.

He stifled his laughter as they both looked at him and he cleared his throat nervously. The both gave one another a piculiar look before asking him to follow them. He did so and they all walked into the school.

Mrs. Shigure walked over to another woman that appeared to be a maid of some sort and spoke with her for a moment before walking back to them. She nodded towards Mr. Okimuya and he excused himself, walking down one of the hallways. Shuichi watched him, and noticed that he was in a black Armani suit. He tilted his head, wondering where he was going but was snapped from his thoughts as Mrs. Shigure began to speak.

"I must regretfully inform you that I will not be able to escort you to your dormitory but if you will please follow Ms. Tran, she will take you to your room." She bowed her head slightly and headed towards a door farther down the hall, hands tucked into her kimono sleeves.

It was just now that he noticed that she was wearing a traditional kimono, it was the heavily layered kind. He couldn't help but think that she must be hot in that stuffy thing, because it was sure hot in the building. Or maybe it was just him?

He turned towards the maid, who had waited patiently while he observed the other adults, and as he murmured an apology she nodded and asked him to please follow her. They walked through what appeared to be endless hallways that led to nowhere, before she stopped and turned towards him.

"There are rules that you must follow when in the dorms," She began. "Just like in the rest of the building. No running, rough-housing, drinking, smoking..." The list went on and on and soon he felt as though he was going to doze off and fall into a muddled mess at her feet, but a particular rule sent him jolting back into reality.

"And no, under any circumstances, interacting with your peers in a sexual manner. Is that understood?" He gave her a near baffled look but nodded. Everyone in this school was a guy, right? What could they possibly do together?

When she saw it she rolled her eyes and turned to the doors they stood next to. She flung them open and instantly sounds of laughter and talk flooded into his ears, before they abruptly stopped. He looked around the room and saw about six or seven boys, all scattered throughout the place, and all their eyes were on him. He gulped and started to fidget with his sleeves again.

"Your things will be brought up momentarily." Ms. Tran said as he looked at the other boys pensivally, before walking away and closing the doors with a snap behind her.

He stood there silently, and looked down at his feet, unsure as to what he was supposed to do. Soon enough, everyone lost interest in him and carried on with whatever they had been doing before Ms. Tran and he interrupted them.

He looked up, finally, and surveyed his surroundings. The walls were a soft, creamy vanilla color, and looked quite plain. The floor, he guessed, was maple, since they seemingly used that for everything here. But then again, he couldn't even tell the difference between pine and ceder.

So lost in his thoughts, he was caught unaware when a few boys walked up to him. He very nearly jumped 10 feet into he air when they spoke.

"Whoa! Calm down, there." One of them laughed. "Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."

Shuichi looked up ad was surprised to see a tall brunette, or was he a redhead, looking down at him.

"I'm Hiroshi." He began, "But everyone just calls me Hiro. And you are...?" He trailed off, waiting for an answer from the other teen.

Shuichi looked at him blankly before the meaning of what was said sunk in. Go figure. I mean who else's brain would fail right at that moment?

He bowed deeply, and with his head still down, almost touching the floor as he said in an almost rushed voice "Shindou, Shuichi." they all laughed and the boy named Hiro kneeled down and peered at the pink haired teen.

"There's no need for such formalities, save it for when it counts, k?" Shuichi stood up right, and nodded, smiling nervously as he looked at all of the boys.

"Oh yeah! I never introduced everyone else!" Hiro grinned at his unintended slip. "This is Tatsuha..." He gestured at a black haired teen that waved politely with a grin on his face, though there was a gleem in his eyes that Shuichi didn't quite trust but he nodded and continued to smile.

"And this one here, happens to be Suguru."

The green haired teen tilted his head and said smoothly "Nice to meet you."

Everything was sort of silent for a moment, each one unsure what to say before Tatsuha broke in.

"Well, since you're new here, why don't we show you around and introduce you to all the guys? Also, you can maybe tell us about yourself." He slapped Shuichi on his back, and grinned happily.

Shuichi squeaked slightly and smiled nervously. "About... Myself?" no one had ever asked him about himself before. "Like what?"

"Well," Tatsuha grinned. "Let's start with you hair."

---

**Broken Porcelain**

---

Well, I changed quite a few things in this chapter. I know that it's short, just as the other ones are but I am trying to make the longer. I'm positive the sixth chapter will be at least five pages long (as this one is only three). Review if you'd like and thank you for reading!


	5. Punishment and then some

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**Broken Porcelain**

---

Thankfully he didn't have to talk about himself just yet and was instead introduced to all of the other boys in the room. Some of them seemed nice while the others... the others were just plain weird. Besides Suguru, Hiro, and Tatsuha there were four other boys. Ikari, Taiki, Sho, and Masa.

When Hiro had introduced him to Taiki and Masa he could have sworn that they were brothers. They both had dark features, and thick accents (he imagined that they were from Osaka). When he asked about it they all laughed and shook their heads no, and said that none of the boys in the room were related.

"Why?" Shuichi asked curiously as he sat down next to them all. Tatsuha shrugged as he leaned against the wall.

"They really don't allow relatives to board with each other. They have to be in different years to even go here." Shuichi was going to ask why when there was a loud knock on the door before they swung open to reveal Mrs. Shigure. They all stood up quickly and bowed and he stared at them in some rapt fascination, never seeing anyone stand so quickly just to greet another person, before he too stood up and gave a bow.

This didn't settle too well with Mrs. Shigure and as her icy gaze fell on him she stepped into the room.

"Come here Shindou." She snapped. He flinched harshly, not expecting her to use a voice so familiar to him and lowered his head, his shoulders slumping as he walked towards her.

She watched him with cold, practiced eyes as slowly made his way to her and when he was within two feet of him she ordered him to stop.

"In this school," she began, "there are certain things you must follow. Two of which you blatantly ignored. Respect to the authorities and posture. Do you think, when you are in my presence that I am undeserving of being presented with either?" He looked up with wide eyes and shook his head quickly.

She whipped a fan out of her sleeve and hit him on the head with it, to which he gave a loud whine. "Wild movements with your head will not suffice as an answer. Reply to my question Shindou." Her voice loomed over him like a puppeteers hand and controlled him as if he was one of her dolls.

"No ma'am." He responded quickly. She continued to stare at him and soon he became more nervous (if that was even possible) and lowered his head, twisting the white cotton fabric of his shirt. Seeing this her lips thinned and her shoulders went rigid.

"Hands out, palms up." He looked up at her strangely as if the words she spoke were foreign and watched as she took in a deep breath and stepped closer towards him, repeating it once again.

"Hands out, palms up." he shakily detached his hand from his shirt and lifted them into the air in front of her, not knowing (and not really wanting to know) what she was going to do and he turned his head to the side and squeezed his eyes shut. Before he knew it a loud thwack echoed in the near silent room and he felt a harsh sting on his palms.

His eyes having opened upon the first initial sign of pain he looked over and saw the same closed metal fan that she had hit him with earlier at her side, clenched tightly in her small boney hands.

Everyone in the room watched silently, as if they had seen this spectacle before, which the most likely had, probably experiencing it themselves.

"When you speak to someone, always keep eye contact unless it is inappropriate in the situation. Do not fidget with your sleeves. For one, it is rude, and second, it is a vulgar habit with which we will have to work on, won't we?" He voice sounded colder than it had before and as Shuichi stared into her eyes as she had instructed he trembled slightly. In the eyes of this woman he saw the exact reflection of his mother and above any pain that Mrs. Shigure could inflict on him, that was what scared him the most.

She turned to the other boys, her eyes scanning them as if she was looking for some sort of fault and upon finding none she spoke, "Excuse me for my small distraction as it had brought me away from the reason of my visit. You will all come down to the commons at five P.M. sharp. Tardiness is unacceptable." To this she looked at Shuichi than back at the rest of them, "There you will have a formal dinner." With nothing else spoken she bowed slightly and they returned the gesture (as did Shuichi from where he was) before she turned and walked to the door, opening them and walking out. As soon as the doors gave the soft click indicating it had shut all the way they all let out a relived sigh. Hiro was the first to rush over to Shuichi.

"You okay man?" He looked at the other teen in a searching sort of way, as if he was trying to see his answer without him telling it to him. Shuichi nodded, though unsure, before he shook his head and smiled.

"I'm fine." The taller boy nodded before laughing.

"I thought she was going to give you a wap on the head with that fan of hers again. I guess she went a little easy on you." Shuichi looked at him disbelievingly before he blurted out,

"Easy?!" With this everyone laughed and sat back down, expecting Hiro and Shuichi to do the same.

As everyone was settled once more Masa turned to Tatsuha and tilted his head to the side as he formulated a question.

"Eh, Tatsuha. Don't you have a brother here? Eiri or something like that?" When the other boy nodded he sighed, "Just wondering."

Shuichi looked between the two curiously, "Ne, You have a brother?" The other nodded and ran a hand through his hair.

"He's a complete ass, though. He's the English teacher here, Mrs. Shigure, along with all of the other female teachers, are all ga ga over him." They all laughed at that. "The only time I see him is during class. You'd expect since we're related that he'd go easy on me, but nooo! He picks on me mostly, forcing me to do all this extra crap. I swear, he does it just to piss me off. Oh, and then there's Tohma, the science teacher. This dude does whatever my bro wants and to top it all off, I think he has the hots for him." He yawned before he leaned forward, his hands gripping the front of his legs as he sat cross legged.

Taiki looked over at the ebony haired teenager before smirking, "Don't complain Tats, he might not invite you over to your house in the summer with your brother and if that happens how will you see you hunny Ryuichi?" Every snickered and covered their mouths, trying to not upset the teen any further.

"He'd never do that!" Tatsuha cried and he leaned over onto his hands before suddenly leering at Shuichi, "And besides, if that does happen I have Shuichi here."

Everyone looked towards him and before the boy knew it he was on his back with Tatsuha looming over him.

"You look just like my Ryuichi, I bet you feel like him too..." The other boys eyes looked clouded and as he started to lean down Shuichi started to panic and he started to try and become one with the floor, something that didn't seem to be working very well.

Just as Tatsuha's face was an inch from his his face broke out into a smile before he laughed out an amused,

"Just kidding!"

Pushing himself off of Shuichi he kept the dumb grin plastered to his face. Everyone else was laughing hysterically, thinking that that was the funniest thing the world. Shuichi turned a deep red and laughed slightly, trying to brush off the lingering feelings of panic.

"I was just messing around with you, though you do look a lot like him. Hey, are you related to someone name Ryuichi Sakuma?"

Tatsuha asked excitedly as he hopped up in front of the pink haired teen again, "Like, is he your brother or something?"

Shuichi quickly shook his head, "I don't have any siblings." His voice sounded rushed and the others couldn't help but wonder why but decided not to question about it.

He shook his head clear and forced a smile as he looked at all of them, "So, a formal dinner, right?"

---

**Broken Porcelain**

---

Sorry again for the lateness of this chapter, really I am sorry. But I am getting it out on Saturday, right? I took the advice of one of the reviewers... I think it was cocoke5... Anyway, thank you for your patience and thank you for reading!


	6. Dinner and a Fall

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Broken Porcelain

---

Tatsuha nodded and stood up with a groan and stretched.

"They're probably the dumbest, most uncomfortable things that this school does. It's less like a dinner and more like a gathering. You have to talk a certain way, walk a certain way, even **blink** a certain way! It always gives me a headache by the end of it." Everyone laughed as he made wild hand gestures and mimicked what you were supposed to do but soon everything quieted down and Ikari, Taiki, Sho, and Masa soon left to go get ready and Shuichi was left with the three others. Sitting down on the bed Hiro had told him was his he watched them for a little while before asking,

"What exactly are we supposed to, um... wear?"

Hiro looked up and shrugged, "A tux I guess, right Tatsuha?" He question, looking over at the other boy before laughing. It seemed that the block haired teen was having a little trouble with his attire and had put his arm where his head went and his head where his arm went. Tatsuha, however, didn't find this in the least bit funny and yelled a muffled curse at Hiro before correcting himself and shooting him a glare.

"You could have helped me, ya know!" He yelled as he yanked on his jacket.

Hiro shrugged and just looked down at his shirt and started to button it, "You shouldn't button it and then put it on, it's much easier this way."

"Well, I wanted to do it like this." He replied stubbornly before glancing back at Shuichi, "Get dressed man, or you'll be late." The bubble gum haired teen nodded before hopping off the bed and started to dig in his bag.

Hiro fixed his hair and took one last look in the mirror, making sure he looked immaculate before walking over to Shuichi, who now throwing clothes from his bag frantically.

"You okay Shuichi?" He asked, standing back a little so as to not get hit with stray clothes.

"No! I can't find it!" He nearly screamed, turning his bag inside out, having the rest of the items fall from the bag.

"Find what?"

"My tux! I could have sworn I... Oh no!" He groaned, covering his eyes.

"Don't sweat it man, I think I have one you could use." He said reassuringly, patting the other boy on the back. Shuichi smiled gratefully up at him. Hiro walked over towards his closet and grabbed out a spare suit and gave it to Shuichi.

"Thank you so much!" he said again, bowing. The red head just laughed.

"It's cool, just get ready and quick, me and Tatsuha need to head down. It looks like Suguru already left." He looked over at Tatsuha and the other boy nodded before heading to the door, looking back at Shuichi Hiro waved and walked towards the door.

Once the two boys were out the door, Shuichi threw off his clothes and quickly slipped into the ones Hiro had given him only to groan at his bad luck. This tux had to be three times bigger than him! Hiro was after all larger than him by far. He looked at himself in the mirror and felt like plastering a big sign that read 'Idiot' across it, because it would clearly portray how he felt.

Sitting on the bed he rolled up his sleeves and then his pants. It didn't look too bad but the clothes were still incredibly baggy on him. With one last sigh he walked out the door and stepping out into the hallway he stopped. Where was the commons?

---

Eiri looked at his watch and then over at all of the children that had started to pile into the commons. Why was he here again? Did they really need all of the teachers here to watch some dumb ass kids? He tapped his foot impatiently and rolled his eyes as he saw some of the boys staring at him. Granted he was good looking but he really didn't feel like having teenage boys ogling him.

"Enjoying yourself, Uesugi-san?"

Eiri glanced over at the person to his side and resisted the urge to roll his eyes, "Quite. And you, Mrs. Shigure?"

"I'm quite delighted actually. You know, if you weren't having a good time I could always show you one." She said in a sickeningly sweet voice as she ran her finger down the length of his arm. He resisted the urge to gag.

"Is that so? And would Mr. Shigure be there too?" He replied smoothly, crossing his arms in an attempt to keep her from touching him.

At the mention of her husband she pursed her lips, "Ah yes. Well... I must be going now. Thank you for the lovely chat I hope you have a wonderful evening." Bowing she excused herself, and went to most likely bother the rest of the male staff.

"Damn hag." he muttered. Glancing back around the room he decided it was time to take some air. They'd do fine without him for a little while. Looking over at Mrs. Shigure to make sure she wasn't watching him he snuck out of one of the doors and walked towards the students Dorms, there was a place by there that didn't have any camera's. The students used it for things he rather not think of but since he was unable to leave the school and they had a strict no smoking policy he decided to use it for a quick smoke.

---

Shuichi wandered the hallways with a lost look on his face. He had no idea where he was and where he was going. Shouldn't they have a map on the wall or something? He groaned and banged his head against the wall.

"I really am pathetic."

He looked helplessly around and groaned again. What am I going to do?

---

Eiri inhaled the sweet nicotine, leaning against the wall. God he needed that. Leaning his head back he closed his eyes. This is what his day should be spent like. In silence.

"Where the...?"

He opened his eyes and looked over to see one of the students wandering around in the front of the building. "What the hells this kid doing?" He thought grimly to himself. Of course he was going to have to go and bring that dumb ass back to the dinner. Pushing off of the wall he made his way towards him.

Shuichi on the other hand hadn't noticed the presence of anyone else and continued to look around pathetically for some sign of where the damn commons might be. He nearly shrieked as he heard someone speak behind him but instead he ungracefully toppled over onto his face.

Eiri stood over him wit the cigarette still help precariously between his lips. Raising an eyebrow he gave the kid a quick once over. He was a strange looking one. Pink hair? Purple eyes? Rolling his eyes he flicked his cigarette. What the hell was with kids these days?

"What do you think you're doing?"

Shuichi looked up and was about to reply but just open and closed his mouth, unable to produce any sound. This man in front of him... he looked like an angel! Had he hit his head too hard on the ground and died?

"Are you just going to gape like a fish or are you actually going to produce an intelligent sound?" He snapped, getting impatient, "Get up. You're late for the dinner."

Shuichi quickly scrambled up at the older mans command but instead ended up stepping and tripping on his long pant leg and face planted it into the dirt again.

"Guh..."

Eiri rolled his eyes and resisted to urge to laugh. This kid was a walking disaster waiting to happen. It was just then that he noticed how poorly dressed the teen was. It was a fortune for the tuition and they didn't give scholarships and yet the kid was still dressed crappily, how did that work? The kids suit had to be like, five times too large for him!

"Are you trying to go for the poor, unfed look or were they just out of the kid sizes?"

Shuichi turned a deep red and stood up, this time more carefully, and fisted his hands.

"No! I-I just forgot my tux!" He yelled before quickly apologizing, "I mean... Uh, sorry sir." He quickly bowed low to the floor.

Rolling his eyes, for what seemed to be the hundredth time that night he shook his head.

"Come on kid, it's time to go." Turning he started to head back to the building with the commons, Shuichi scurrying on behind him.

---

Broken Porcelain

---

I know this isn't as long as I promised but I'll be having another three to four page chapter out a little later this week, probably Tuesday. Thank you for your patience! And thank you for reading!


	7. Formally Yours

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**Broken Porcelain**

---

Shuichi walked slowly and silently behind the older man. After spending those two minutes, those two **very** uncomfortable minutes, with him he decided he was less of an angel and more of an ass with really good hair. He pulled at the sleeve of his tux and mentally groaned. He looked ridiculous and to top it all off he was extremely late and was caught by one of the most uncouth people that he had ever met, not to mention one of the most surly. In a way the guy reminded of his father and that alone sent waves of anxiety running through his body.

As they neared the building where the dinner was being held a familiar emotion ran up his arms and down his legs.

Fear.

What was he going to do? What was he going to say? Would they laugh? Or would they ignore him? Treat him as though he was some kind of... of... What would they treat him as? All of these thoughts ran wild in his head and soon he felt dizzy and nearly tripped over himself again.

Though he was saved from his sure fate as the blond came to a halt in front of him, and Shuichi watched as he flicked his cigarette to the side and straightened up slightly. As he turned to face him the younger male gulped and tightened his hands into fists.

"Go in, walk over to a corner and stay there for the entire night. If you do that, no one should really notice you. Well, at least that Shigure hag won't." Turning back around he walked towards the door, idly calling back behind him, "Don't get used to my advice kid. This'll be the first and last time you'll hear it." before walking inside.

Shuichi stood there contemplating his words for a moment and with a shaking nod of his head and an unsteady stride he attempted to was as quickly and as silently as he could into the building, though with him, quickly and attempted silence never quite cut it. He end up snagging the end of Hiro's pants in the door as it closed and with an unmanly scream he promptly fell onto the ground, though this time, thankfully it wasn't on his face. Instead he found himself staring at a wonderful view of fluorescent lights and ceiling tiles.

He heard all the murmurs and whispered words around and him curled into himself slightly, wondering if it'd be best to play dead, or even pretend to have knocked himself out. But as a familiar red head popped into view those two options diminished.

Hiro smiled in that brotherly way of his before bending down and holding out his hand, "Would you like some help, Mr. Shindou?" With as much gratitude as he could muster at the moment he thanked Hiro and took up his offer. As soon as he was brought to his feet he looked around and was nearly mortified to see every eye on him. But after a few moments of staring most of them lost interest and continued on with what they were doing while the rest continued on before they were not so kindly reminded by Mrs. Shigure that staring was impolite.

Shuichi had just now realized that Hiro had been talking to him and with a shake of his head he forced a smile and asked, "Um, what were you saying?"

The other boy just laughed and shook his head as he repeated, "I was just going on about how that was quite a fall and I just wanted to inquire as to whether or not you were alright."

Shuichi nodded his head slowly as his eyes stared at floor while a dark blush tinted his cheeks. Hiro understood how it must feel to have done something like that and on his first day. He also understood why it had happened. Almost as funny (yes funny, though he would never outright laugh in the boys face about it) as the whole tripping incident had been, his clothes! Hiro should have known that his tux wouldn't have fitted the smaller boy, perhaps Suguru's would have been a better fit. He really did need to think before he acted sometimes.

"Do you care to join the others and I? It'd be a pleasure to converse with you." The read head nearly gagged on his words. God they sounded like a bad gaijin film. Shuichi, just now noticing his speech patterns nodded quizzically but as the other boy started off towards his group he none-the-less followed.

Tatsuha stood there and watched Shuichi as he slowly walked behind Hiro and decided that this kid was definitely nothing like his Ryuichi. He was clumsy, adorable, frail, and unsure of himself while the brunette that constantly haunted his dreams was graceful, sexy, strong, and **very** sure of himself. He smiled as he slipped off into another one of his sporadic day dreams about the older man before he was rudely jabbed in his side. Looking over to his side he non too gently took Taiki's head hand and squeezed it till his fingers turned white. He would have put the other in a head lock but since this was a dinner formal he didn't want to get into trouble. The other boy bite his lip in pain and as soon as Tatsuha let his abused hand go he cradled it to his chest, glaring daggers at the other male.

"Hello everyone." Hiro said politely, bowing. They did the same before standing up straight and smiling as Shuichi stood there with his a perplexed look on his face. Feeling more than a little awkward he made it his job to stick by Hiro, one of the very few people he thought he could trust, even just a little.

The night continued without an further incidents and even as they all piled into the Dining room so that the actually dinner could commence Shuichi managed to Keep himself upright and not trip.

They all went through a series of procedures, or what looked like procedures to Shuichi as they ate and talked. They even held their utensils strangely but thankfully Hiro was there to show him the way. As he ate he thought he could feel eyes on him but whenever he looked up he never saw anyone staring so he shrugged it off as a feeling of paranoia.

"Don't worry," Hiro said after awhile, "You will become accustomed to this and it will all eventually become second nature." Shuichi nodded and smiled. Though he wasn't really sure he could ever get used to this, he would at least try. Trying something couldn't hurt, could it?

"How many times do you all do stuff like this?" He said, pushing the food around in his bowl.

"Usually one a month." He replied, sitting up straight for a moment before slumping slightly, sighing, "Though I am wondering, if you don't mind my asking, why have you come here three months late?"

Shuichi, not really knowing how to answer, and not really feeling much inclined to shrugged, "I, uh, don't really know." Hiro nodded, accepting this as his answer. If he didn't feel like answering him, then who was he to force him?

Eiri looked over at that kid from before and scoffed. He really did look like a fish out of water. Leaning back in his chair he idly remembered some file that he was given, pertaining to him. It was the same old bull crap. His background, previous schools... Same old, same old.

For some reason he couldn't stop looking at that damn brat. It must be because of how god damn bad he looked. Compared to all the other little shit heads that sat around him he looked like the runt of the bunch. He almost laughed at the though. Almost.

"God, I must really hate kids or something..." he mumbled to himself. This brought on the thought of **why** he was even teaching. Something that he had thought about many times before and the only thing that he could think of was that it had been his only option. It was either that or take over his old mans business, something he had no desire doing.

"Something wrong, Eiri-kun?"

Looking over he had to resist the urge to roll his eyes but didn't and sighed, "No and it's not any of your business and way Seguchi." The other man put a face of mock hurt.

"Eiri, I'm hurt. What a way to show your friend gratitude when all I had ever done is care about you?" He said, putting his hand on his chest, pouting. Eiri rolled his eyes instead of answering the other blond stuffed food into his mouth.

"Now that's just not polite." Tohma said with a look of distaste on his face, "At least close your mouth Eiri."

Just to annoy him he continued to chew with his mouth open, even as going so far as to put another mouthful (that obviously didn't fit) in his mouth. Tohma groaned and put his hand over his eyes, "You really are difficult Eiri..."

After swallowing what food was in his mouth he smirked and sat back. Tohma left him alone after that and for this he was thankful. Since he had no desire to eat anymore of this food, his eyes scanned the room again and after only a short period of time he found them to be back on that new kid. His eyebrows knit together for a moment as he tried to remember what his name had been. Tapping his fingers on the table he looked up at the ceiling before his eyes snapped back down.

Shuichi.

That was it. For some reason he liked that name and for a very clear reason he became irritated. What the hell was he doing thinking about some weird looking kid for? And a male kid! He liked woman goddamnit!

He slapped himself mentally and nearly laughed. Of course he liked woman, he didn't even like the kid that way, he was just curious... was that even the right word for what it was? God, this all boys school was really starting to rub him the wrong way. Looking over he saw Mrs. Shigure caught up in a conversation with another one of the younger teachers. She really needed to get some and stop bothering all of them here. He glanced over at Mr. Okimuya and made sure he was busy with one of the other male teachers, probably knee deep in conversation about politics. He didn't need either of them following him.

With one last glance at Shuichi he stood up and excused himself before walking off. He heard Tohma say that he'd see him when he got back. Finally rolling his eyes he scoffed and walked out. Like he was coming back. Well, tonight anyway.

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**Broken Porcelain**

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Sorry that I got it out a day late... I got a writers block and I couldn't get rid of it. Then I got inspiration. Again, I'm so sorry. I hope that this was okay, I had quite a bit of trouble writing it. Thank you for reading!


	8. A Day in the Life

So I was at my computer and I decided to check my e-mail and I saw that someone reviewed a story that I had never quite finished. So I clicked on it being the curious little puppy that I am (and I was a bit happy I'll admit). It was from yashamew and s/he said something like, "It's been two years already. Come on." I couldn't help but agree. It had been two years and that seemed like such a long wait for all of my… loyal readers. Of course since such a large amount of time has passed my style has inevitably changed so it won't be the same as what you all remember but that doesn't matter I suppose (It'll most likely be crappy as usual P). Anyway, I didn't continue it because I was completely and utterly stuck but I think I might be able to squeeze out a few more chapters. We'll just have to see then, now won't we? Read and enjoy.

Broken Porcelain

Since that night time had passed slowly for Shuichi. He had grown used to the procedures and customs of the Takatou's all boys' school but he messed them up with the same miserable clumsiness that seemed to remain stagnantly with him wherever he went and in whatever he did. His hands ached from how many times they had been struck by Mrs. Shigure's relentless ruler of justice and Hylands ointment had become his best friend in those cruel times. Thankfully the boys in his room, Hiro and Suguru, had stayed by his side and helped him in whatever he needed, whether it was his homework or a shoulder to cry on. The latter being the most useful to an overly emotional idiot like him, or so Suguru liked to say. But there was still one thing that Shuichi could not get used to no matter what he did; his teacher Mr. Yuki.

The man was completely insufferable! He seemed to have it out for Shuichi no matter the circumstance. For instance, in Language and Composition earlier on in the week Shuichi was sitting in the back row minding his own business, mind you, while staring at his hands and out of nowhere Mr. Yuki decided to pick on him! He started yelling about how his last essay had been atrocious and that he would never get a good grade in the class if he kept turning in garbage like that. And Shuichi knew he was right, the essay was pretty bad but that didn't mean he had to yell at him like that, right? The humiliation of being called out in front of the whole class was unbearable. He didn't know if he could go through it again.

Though the problem now was just turning in okay work and keeping the man off his back. If he could do that, he could survive the semester. Hopefully.

Shuichi pulled at his sleeves and tucked them beneath his hands so he could get a good grip on them. Feeling slightly better he looked out the window at a particularly glum day and before he knew what was happening Mr. Yuki had once again come out of nowhere and pounced on him (Figuratively speaking of course).

"What about you Mr. Shindou, have anything to add to the conversation?"

Shuichi flinched slightly, surprised, and slowly turned towards his teacher, his shoulders slumped and his head hung, "I-I uhm, I don't really know…"

"You don't know _what_ Mr. Shindou?" Mr. Yuki snapped, "That we're talking about complex parallelism? Or how it's used because the technique _is_ a crucial component to the upcoming essay you must write to _pass the __**class**_."

The words stung and bit into his body. Suddenly Shuichi felt an indescribable amount of shame come over him. He wrung his hands together and shook his leg in a jittery motion as he tried not to cry when he heard his teacher sigh in resignation.

"Calm down Shindou." Mr. Yuki said, his hand pinching the bridge of his nose with his eyes screwed shut, "Why don't you go and stand out in the hallway for me? I'll be right with you." He bit out his words with every piece of self control he had left and when he heard no movement he added, "I expect you to be gone when I open my eyes."

The sound of a chair scraping against the ground and hurried footsteps sounded and soon the sound of a door opening and closing signaled that it was okay to open his eyes again. As he looked about the room he saw that twenty students stared at him with the same terse indignation written across their faces.

"He does have a way with persuading the crowd, I'll give him that." He thought as he instructed them to turn to page 214 in their packets and begin reading.

"I'll be back momentarily." He said and turned and made his way out of the room.

Sure enough he found Shuichi slumped against the wall on the floor, his whole body shaking. Kneeling down Eiri sighed and put a hand on his shoulder but that only seemed to increase the boys' anxiety so he pulled his hand away and sighed again.

"Shuichi." He whispered softly, "Calm down. There's no reason to get so upset. I was merely…" he was suddenly interrupted when his student promptly stopped shaking and fell sideways into him passed out. Yuki's eyes nearly bugged out of his head as soon as he realized what happened and not being able to move with the dead weight on his chest he reached over and banged on the classroom door.

"Someone open the fucking door!" He snarled, not in the mood for the politeness that the Takatou's all boys' school required. After all, one of his students had toppled over on him.

Hiro was the one to answer the door and by the look on his face he had gained the wrong impression.

"I don't know what the Hell you're thinking but it's not that. This fucking idiot passed out. Now stop standing there and get him the Hell off of me and to the infirmary!" Eiri snapped. Hiro and two other boys moved quickly and pulled Shuichi off of him and with some maneuvering they succeeded in Hiro holding him bridal style in his arms.

"Wow, for such a small guy, he sure is heavy." Hiro breathed out. With a nod to his teacher Hiro and the two boys went as fast as possible down the hallway and out of site.

Sighing Eiri pulled out a cigarette and went to light it but stopped short as he saw over fifty students standing out in the hallway with curious, if not suspicious, looks on their faces.

"Get in class!" He snarled and flies in the site of bug spray they fled the halls.

"Finally." He mumbled and flicked the lighter on. He put it up to the cigarette and was about to inhale when a voice broke through the silence.

"Smoking again I see, Eiri. Whatever shall I do?"

If you don't already know in this chapter I was trying to show that Shuichi brings out the softer side in Yuki by way of his anxiety. If you didn't understand from my subtle, or not so subtle… Hints than I thought I'd give you a little added help. Anyway, I'll try to get the next chapter up in less than two years; maybe two weeks, two days, a day, a month? I don't know. The muse be a tricky mistress. Anyway… Thank you for reading!


	9. Memories

So I've taken a very long time, not as long as my last update fortunately, to post a new chapter. Sorry about that. The thing is I saved the chapter on my friend Steven's computer and I of course stopped coming over because we had a small falling out, as per usual. Anyway, I'm back now and I revised and edited and whatever but it's still pretty… Well, it's still pretty much like how I write. Sorry about that as well. But here it is, in the flesh (figuratively speaking of course) and I hope that you all enjoy it. Thank you for reading!

Broken Porcelain

Eiri inhaled the cigarette deeply while he tried to hold back an all too familiar snarl as looked over at the smaller man.

"Oh Eiri, sometimes I think you try to hurt my feelings on purpose." Tohma pouted as he made his way over towards the blonde before smiling. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were."

Eiri snorted and flicked the ash from his cigarette towards the shorter man, causing Tohma to step back and give the English teacher a glare.

"No need to get testy." he said as he brushed off the ash.

"Well, I'm not quite in the mood to be nice right now." He replied testily.

"Mm, yes. I saw one of your students being carted off by Nakano." Tohma let out a short laugh and tilted his head to the side, "And what, pray tell, happened?"

Eiri just shrugged, "Hell if I know."

Tohma straightened up and looking at him a rare frown graced his face. The other man actually seemed _worried_.

"Is he worried about the kid?" Tohma thought before reaching out and placing his hand on the blonde's arm. Eiri, with little animosity, pushed him away and flicked the cigarette to the ground and mashed it with his foot.

"I'll talk to you later." was all he said.

Tohma watched him walk away and had a sickening feeling in his gut as he watched him go.

Light broke in at the corners of his vision but the comforting darkness kept it at a distance, always shoving the light away. The pain in his body seemed to peak and when he tried to shift his body it didn't quite seem to be there. He whimpered then, unsure of what was real and what 

wasn't. Voices suddenly began crashing in around him, seeming to taunt and to titter, causing his head to ache. They tried to pull him from the small comfort of the darkness and into the intensity that the light seemed to carry. He didn't want to go back to it that much he knew.

One voice brought him further towards the light and the pain in his body seemed to intensify, "Shuhhh…"

The voice seemed to grow louder, "Shuishh."

The octaves increased until the sound was loud, sharp and clear, cutting through the air and straight into his mind and the rough tremors shook his body like a thousand needles, "Shuichi!"

His eyes snapped opened and everything seemed to suddenly stop. The noise, the tremors, the light; everything. Shuichi's eyes slowly moved throughout the room until they settled on Hiroshi and he felt his muscles relax into the stiff mattress.

Hiro smiled, "You had us going for awhile there." he gave a short laugh, "They thought you might be anemic or something but then we told them who you passed out in front of and they understood then. Mr. Yuki can be pretty scary."

Shuichi chuckled and gave Hiro a lopsided smile, "Yeah…"

The red head looked around the room and swung his arms back and forth before clapping his hands together, "So!" he began, "Feel up to leaving yet? Or did you want to chill here for a bit?"

Shuichi made good use of his arms and pushed himself up on the bed but his head spun and his vision began to ebb to black forcing him back down.

"I-I think staying here would be best." he replied meekly.

"Don't apologize for not feeling well." Hiro smiled and patted the younger male on the head. "I'll swing by and see how you're doing after Trig, Kay?"

Shuichi nodded and gave him a smile of thanks before he laid down and closed his eyes. He just wanted to sleep, that's what sounded good right about now. He listened as Hiroshi left and finally relaxed his body and drifted off into sleep.

_Sirens wailed into the cold night and sped to a house on a hill towards a young girl that lay pressed up against a wall while her mother frantically tried to stop her from bleeding to death. The father, gried-stricken, had taken hold of the son and shook him frantically trying to get the boy to talk but the only sounds that had come forth were tiny whimpers and sobs. In frustration the man hit the small boy, sending him flying to the ground. A dark red mark spreads across his cheek and the pale child can only shake and cry as the older man screams at him._

"_Tell me what happened to my daughter you little shit or I swear I'll…" he falls short, suddenly painfully aware that the medics are standing there watching him. Quickly he stands and directs them to the bathroom and they set to work on saving the daughters life. _

_Minutes drag on yet with each moment her heart seems to slowly fade away. Soon enough there's no heartbeat at all and they've lost her. All eyes turn towards the small boy and he can feel fear washing over him. The last thing he sees before he passes out it his father stalking towards him with a look in his eyes that would haunt the small boy for the rest of his life._

Slowly Shuichi opens his eyes and can feel the tears leaking from them. He sits up and tries to breathe deeply, willing the tears to go away and as he does so he sees something out of the corner of his eye. Snapping his head up he gets a small glimpse of blonde hair but he shakes his head and thinks it as a figment of his imagination. There's no way that there was a person watching him, let along Mr. Yuki. Flopping back down on the bed he turns his back to the door and squeezes his eyes shut, willing the thoughts from before from his mind.

And so ends another chapter. At least it was long this time, eh? But yes, review if you'd like, or if you have time they're always appreciated. And as always, thank you for reading.


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